Singapore is just a little island but there are so many types of wanton mee as opposed to the entire Malaysia where you can only find one type which is the one that comes with some black soy sauce. Don’t you find that an irony? Interestingly there are chilli in so many Malaysian’s foods but when it comes to Wanton Mee, it must be eaten without chilli as what my Malaysian friends said ‘must savor the original flavour’.

But to Singaporeans, the chilli sauce in a plate of Wanton mee is as crucial as chilli in a plate of Nasi Lemak. Alamak, no chilli how to eat? Unless you are not a chilli person then it will just leave you with whatever sauce that comes with it or ketchup in some cases. Unlike Malaysia’s Wanton Mee, Singapore’s version has no ‘national wanton mee sauce’ that’s been recognized by the entire nation.

So what’s the current exchange rate for Singapore’s Wanton Mee? I think one area in our Wanton Mee that is seemingly been underdeveloped is the char siew. Very few stalls actually put much effort into producing very tok kong(outstanding) char siew while the pivotal point of most shiokness in a plate of wanton mee is capped by the shiokness of the chilli which means in most cases, it’s really only the chilli that is defining the shiokness. The only wanton mee that has convincing reasons for me to eat without the chilli was at Crystal Jade and lately, I found out that Da Jie Famous Wanton Mee is on par with Crystal Jade as far the noodles is concerned.

While at Old Airport Road Food Centre recently, I was succumbed to the temptation to try out Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee to see what exactly they are famous for. I mean other than the self-declared famous claim in the signboard aside, pasted all over the stall are also a lot of write-ups from many food reviews’ guides like U Viewers(Channel U), food columns in local tabloids like Lian He Wan bao and TNP, so I was thinking that the quality here won’t go too far south.

Wanton Mee $3

For my $3 bowl, it came quite shiok. Like many other good wanton mees, the chilli sauce here ruled once again. It has that uncanny similarity to Fei Fei Wanton Mee’s chilli sauce but there is some kind of dark colored sauce below the noodles that makes this bowl of wanton mee a little more shiok. The char siews are, well very common and probably not the reason why they are famous I suppose.

Wanton

But, you know what? The shiokness didn’t end there. A moment later, I was to experience one of the best wantons I ever tasted. It is not easy to describe a good wanton but when you come across one, you know it. I guess this is one wanton that just cruised through my mouth, teeth and throat. Ok why I dubbed this one of the best is because everything about it is just lovely. Every single wanton was nicely wrapped and that muscular cum shining appearance is one good sign of its freshness. Once you put it into your mouth, you can distinctly feel the flavours of the fillings inside which pack some kind of tik poh or giam her taste and is quite simply mouth-chewing good. What I’m trying to say here is that it ain’t some kind of random minced pork you find in your common wanton but one with texture, juice, flavour and taste that is so enjoyable that I have to order a bowl of it.

Wanton Soup $3

Now I see why they are famous. Here is my undisputed wanton champion and I didn’t jump to that conclusion fast for I ordered a bowl of it and finished it up in record time.

So the chilli sauce and wanton is what that can make me come back here. The char siews are not bad and the only short fall for me here is the noodles which is not QQ at all. But until I come across a better wanton, the lack of QQness in the noodles won’t be enough to prevent me from buying a bowl of wanton mee from Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee the next time I’m near Kallang.

Price: $3

Recommendation: Wanton and chilli sauce.

Conclusion: There isn’t much to talk about this wanton mee except that the chilli is shiok and the wanton super shiok. Not exactly sure what they are famous for but for just $6 I already found reasons valid enough for me to buy from them again if I happen to be near Old Airport Road.